Gluten-Free Pumpkin Scones

A great substitute for pie at Thanksgiving

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Scones with Cream Cheese Filling

2 ¼ cups all-purpose gluten-free baking mix

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice.

¼ tsp. nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 stick cold butter, cut into pieces

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup canned pureed pumpkin (NOT pie filling)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

¾ cup powdered sugar, divided

2 Tbs. milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and have one additional sheet of parchment available.  Mix the softened cream cheese with ½ cup of powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, and salt.  Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives.  The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.  In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, egg, pumpkin puree and vanilla.  Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and mix just until the dough comes together.  Knead dough gently four or five times while it is still in the bowl. Allow the mixture rest in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes so the GF flour has some time to absorb the liquid--helps avoid the grainy texture some GF breads can have.

Remove half of the dough from the bowl and pat the dough into an 8-inch circle in the center of the baking sheet (it helps to butter your hands so the dough will not stick to you).  Spread three quarters of the sweetened cream cheese evenly over the circle of dough.  Spray the second piece of parchment lightly with cooking spray, and pat the second portion of dough into an 8-inch circle.  Carefully flip the second circle of dough on top of the first and peel off the parchment paper. Pinch the edges to seal.

At this point, most scone recipes instruct you to score or cut the circle into wedges. But if you do that the filling will leak out during baking with this recipe. For best results, bake the scone whole.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until round is firm on the edges but still slightly soft in the middle.  Cool on a wire rack.  Beat the remaining cream cheese with ¼ cup of powdered sugar and the 2 tbs. of milk to make a glaze.  Spread glaze on the scones and cut apart before serving. Makes 8 large scones.

Notes

Becoming gluten-intolerant would be just about the worst fate possible for me, and I sympathize as best I can for people who suffer from that condition. Holidays can be the worst, so I developed this gluten-free pumpkin scone recipe as an easy substitute for pumpkin pie. The moist filling helps alleviate the grittiness that can sometimes accompany gluten-free breads. My GF friends tell me this is one of their all-time favorite recipes. You can easily substitute all-purpose flour for the gluten free baking mix.